Broken, But Fixable
by mandaree1
Summary: Peridot feels guilty about The Cluster, and Amethyst hurts from fighting Malachite. They fix each other.
**Disclaimer: I don't own Steven Universe**

 **Title: Broken, But Fixable.**

 **Summary: Peridot feels guilty about The Cluster, and Amethyst hurts from fighting Malachite. They fix each other.**

 **Pairing: Amedot.**

 **Setting: Post "Gem Drill."**

 **...**

"Whatcha doin'?"

Peridot jumps with a squawk best left to the imagination, discarding wires to turn as quick as she could with her legs curled under her.

"Oh." She says, calming slightly. "It's just you."

"Heeey, Peri." Amethyst flops down next to her. Well, perhaps _falling_ is a better word for it. There's no attempt to catch herself, letting the formation of her belly take the brunt of it as she curls up by her legs. Quartz's are known for their more simple nature, especially when under pressure, choosing blunt force to wit, despite being perfectly capable of both, but she's fairly sure this is a stretch. _Jasper_ never did anything like this, anyway. "Who'd you think it was? Our washed up blue girly?"

Peridot deems that question unfit for answer.

"Relax. She's still out. I checked. She's lookin' better, though."

"I still think it would be wise to post a guard." Peridot takes up the frazzled circuit board once again. "She might wander off."

"Wow, Peri. One mission under your belt, and you already think you own the place." Amethyst laughs. She flushes with mild shame, but it's not meant to be hurtful. "No worries. S'good to know you're feelin' it. But Garnet knows best when it comes to fusion."

Peridot gave a sullen nod. "Shouldn't you be with the others?"

Congratulations exchanged, they'd all curled up for the night on that "mattress", deeming rest after such a day a priority. Weariness gnawed at her gem, but Peridot wasn't so willing to relax after all that had happened.

Jasper's disappearance hadn't struck her as exactly comforting, either.

"Shouldn't you?" Amethyst raises an eyebrow, eyes narrowed.

Eye. Peridot isn't typically privy to both of the gem's eyes. From what she's seen, none of them really are. It's something that happens by chance; the odd wind or fast movement, only to be quickly replaced once again.

She dragged herself closer with her front hands. "What _are_ you doing?"

"I assumed that was obvious." She waved a small hand to the discarded drill, broken and laying on its side.

"Well, yeah. But why?"

"I'm under the impression Steven will eventually wish to visit The Cluster again. I just want to be prepared."

Amethyst waved it off. "He can probably do that in his sleep, but it's good to keep busy, or whatever it is Pearl's always saying."

Peridot examined her; the slump, the closed eyes, the lack of energy. She hasn't been this still-looking since she jabbed her the wrong way with her words, but she doesn't seem to be bleeding emotions hastily covered by indifference, like she was before. "Are you okay?"

"'M _tired._ " She sighs, defeated in ways Peridot could only guess. "I got _drained_ , man."

"You should have stayed with the others."

"You looked lonely, so here I am."

"You couldn't see me from the barn. The angle is wrong."

"Don't got to. It's kinda obvious."

They fall back into silence. Peridot messes with the wires. Amethyst twitches a bit here and there with pain.

"What was The Cluster like?" Amethyst breaks into the quiet. "Super scary?"

"The world was ending. I thought we were going to die. _Of course_ it was scary. It was terrifying."

"Wish I coulda been there."

"Doubtful. It was two hours both ways. Steven expressed a level of discomfort." Peridot was suddenly thankful. It was hard to properly estimate how much damage Amethyst would have caused in her boredom, accidentally or on purpose, other than that damage would have assuredly been caused. "Although, for all its disturbing aesthetics, it was oddly... beautiful."

"Really crazy stuff usually is. Just look at all of us."

That warmed her. "For a moment, when we first broke through, I was under the impression we'd lost. I had this thought that, ironically, this may very well be one of the most amazing places for me to die. The birthplace of a new super-gem."

"Okay." Amethyst says. "Really jealous now."

"Don't be. It was still an amalgam of millions of shattered gems. Broken and glued together." Her shoulders hunch a bit. "Possibly in constant pain, despite how happy they may have been, because one can be both. Death is still death, after all."

"Hey." Amethyst pulls herself into Peridot's lap for a lazy hug. She wonders if it was hard for her to walk over in the first place, but quickly assured herself otherwise. She'd been perfectly fine when they'd returned with Lazuli. "You did good, Peri."

"I should hope so."

"No. I mean, yeah, you did good on your mission, but..." Her long hair tickled her legs a bit as she shook her head. "S'not your fault."

Peridot squints at her. "I never assumed such a high amount of gem devastation could ever be mine to take the blame."

"You read some reports, and you came to check up on it. That doesn't make it your responsibility."

"Of course not." She answers briskly, reaching over her head to fiddle with the panel.

Amethyst's eye glitters with intent. "If it's your fault for coming here, then it's Garnet fault for showing them fusion was possible between different gems."

That gives her pause. Peridot sighs, long and low, closing her eyes and pursing her lips. Her shoulders lowering subconsciously.

"Garnet never would have been happy apart, I assume?"

"Technically, half of her would be dead, so, yeah."

"Garnet is Garnet." She affirms, even if she still doesn't quite understand.

"And Peridot is Peridot. The Cluster was an unhappy accident turned happy."

"Thanks to Steven, yes."

"Gotta hand it to the guy. He's got grace under pressure. I woulda destroyed the _heck_ outta that Cluster."

Peridot's fingers tighten. They had, at some point, left the tangle of the wires for the tangle of Amethyst's hair, rough with bedhead, but Amethyst doesn't cry out.

"I don't know about grace."

"But he's certainly something."

"Yes."

"It's cool, Peri. We all know you love 'em."

Emotion relatively like that of the ride in the drill struck her. It was a mixture of shame and affection; embarrassment yet hesitant satisfaction.

"As do you."

"Well, duh. Anybody coulda told you that."

Her hands trailed down to press into her shoulders, finding a network of knots there. Amethyst grunts, taking in a sharp breath, but doesn't pull away.

"Are you alright?"

"Like I said; tired. Really sore. I'm not really used to being a fusion's power source during a battle with _another_ fusion."

"The others seemed okay."

"Garnet knows what's up. Pearl's been loopy since we got back. I'm hurtin'. That's just how it works."

She remembered Steven's frantic hugging with some understanding. "I don't know how, but it won't hurt for me to try, will it?"

"Huh?"

"To get the aches out."

"Oh. Well, you could mess my back up more, but that's what poofing is for. You wanna give it a shot?"

She'd only barely finished her question. "Yes."

Amethyst reached a hand around and, before Peridot could figure out its exact purpose, pulled her long hair to her front, tucking it under her chin as a pillow, her back exposed to the night air.

Peridot got the feeling her back was an even rarer sight than both of her eyes.

Gently pressing small green fingers into her shoulder and watching her form give, Peridot took a second to appreciate just how _soft_ she really was. While she couldn't say firsthand, most of the times she'd brushed against quartz's had been all hard angles and harsh plains. Amethyst is considerably nicer than all that, and much more trusting.

As though on cue with her thoughts of trust, her mission finally completed, Peridot heard snoring. She felt oddly at peace, poking and prodding at the tightened imitation of muscles, her work forgotten.

And warm. Her form was warm.

 **Author's Note: You can actually do serious damage to a person's body if you're not careful, so I wouldn't suggest cluelessly massaging a person in pain.**

 **My first slightly shippy 'fic in awhile, and it's not even my more fondest of Amethyst ships. For shame. (I ship everything, especially with Amethyst; polygems to Gamethyst. My fondest be the scourge of Amedot, ironically enough. Pearlmethyst.)**

 **No offense to Jasper, ya'll. Love me some Cheeto Puff. Can't wait to see her return after learning earthbending from the badgermoles.**

 **-Mandaree1**


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